CloverJack

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, There's a lot of great information here so thanks guys. The big selling points for me were: The noise reduction (I pretty much only get my hobby time in when my 2yo gets to bed) Whitaker's comment on outlet availability and breaker troubles (which until I get a new place, hopefully by next summer, that's something I'll have to deal with) Sturme's idea for setting up with the two separate machines for heavy & light duty work, and it wouldn't be as cost prohibitive as powered machines And I'm sure the more I work with one, the more I'll realize the other benefits mentioned in the thread.

Sounds good, all I got is time. Appreciate the reply and enjoy your long weekend!

@fredk, Assuming you're speaking from experience, what would be your elevator pitch, so to speak, for someone intending to buy a manual? I haven't come across too many testimonials as to their overall effectiveness or consumer satisfaction. Respectfully, - Jack

Well... here we go, Disclaimer: This being my first post I ask that you please bear with me regarding any potential faux pas or lapse in etiquette on my part. Over the past few weeks I've made an effort to learn as much as I can from this forum before delving into the field, and I've quickly realized that the wealth of information contained here could occupy my evening reads for the next dozen or so decades. I am truly grateful to all those who've spent so much of their valuable time refining the craft and sharing their knowledge with the rest of the community. That being said, I apologize if the question posed in this topic has been answered or addressed somewhere else, and I've just not come across it thus far. Now to the crux! I've recently been perusing the forums for posts on conditioning leather and though I'll most likely be using neatsfoot oil, I'm curious about EVOO as an alternative (should a future project with lighter leather require a treatment with less darkening effect). Understanding that there are mixed testimonies as to whether or not EVOO will go rancid overtime, the possibility nevertheless causes me some level of apprehension. Since it is my understanding that oxidation is what causes rancidity to take effect, I then began to wonder what could be added to the oil in order to reduce (or even negate) this potentiality. A couple antioxidants used commonly in food service jumped out as possibilities: BHA, or Butylated hydroxyanisole (for it's comparably high oil solubility) and Gallic Acid for it's overall efficiency at transferring it's antioxidizing properties to the resulting solution. TL;DR - Does anyone have any reliable information (or personal experience) in regards to augmenting their conditioning solution with the addition of antioxidants? Were the overall results desirable, detrimental, or indiscernible? I sincerely thank you ahead of time for taking a moment to read this, v/r, -Jack

Hey Neighbors, Grumpymann, Ideas? Plenty. Knowledge? ...eh. And Gregg, I've driven or walked past Keystone Hall many times, instantly recognizable pic, but I'll be honest, I had no idea what the building itself was!

Greetings from PA, First off, the amount of talent on this forum is truly inspiring, and has really fueled my desire to get into leatherworking as a hobbyist (as if I didn't have enough hobbies already...). Secondly, the willingness of this forum's members to offer advice and join in on some incredibly intellectual conversations, all in the name of increasing the collective knowledge of the community, has been equally motivational and is the reason I decided to join. I look forward to engaging in such discussions in the near future, though admittedly I'm still in the 'information-binge' stage at the moment. Anyway, my usual introduction is a a handshake and a nod, so I'm just gonna cap it off with a "Pleasure to be here". v/r, - Jack